1985 Isokyrian Oil Workers strike
The 1985 Isokyrian Oil Workers strike was a labor dispute between the Isokyrian Oil Workers (IOW), a trade union that represented workers employed at the various state and privately owned petroleum companies, and the Isokyrian government. At the heart of the dispute was a demand from the IOW for increased wages, better insurance plans, and safer working conditions. Because the government was not willing to give in to these demands, citing decreased production, the IOW declared a strike on the morning of April 7, 1985. Around 13,000 workers participated in the strike, constituting a quarter of the IOW's membership. The strike occurred under the term of Dagnae Wilhjalmsdottir and shook what was otherwise a peaceful and uneventful era in Isokyrian history. Initially, Wilhjalmsdottir was not concerned about the strike, believing it would pass over within a short amount of time and that the government could rely on strikebreakers to keep operations running smoothly in the meantime. However, this did not occur. The strike action lasted far beyond predicted and the short-term workers the government hired to replaced them quit not long after joining, some even opting to the join the strike. Petroleum prices rose across the world, especially in the where the price of a gallon of fuel tripled within one week. All of these prompted the government to begin negotiating with the IOW. After three weeks of deliberation, an agreement was reached that included slightly increased compensation. Qualifying workers were offered better health insurance plans while their life insurance options stayed the same. New safety regulations were put in place to make up for this. The IOW strike remains one of the largest strikes in Isokyrian history but its effect has been sparsely seen in Isokyrian politics. Years after the strike, the government quietly passed several measures restricting workers right to strike, only permitting them under very narrow circumstances. As Isokyria has liberalized its economy, it has been argued that Isokyrian workers have even less rights now than they did thirty years ago. Background IOW The Isokyrian Oil Workers union was formed a decade prior in 1975 in response to the increasing privatization of Isokyria's crude oil production. The union initially only represented private workers but an agreement with the Isokyrian government expanded their ranks to include public employees as well. The union handled collective bargaining between the public and private sectors in different fashions. Just one contract was signed between the IOW and the government to represent all public workers across different state-owned companies as opposed to private workers, which had separate contracts for each privately-owned company. Contract expires The contract the IOW signed with the Isokyrian government in 1980 was about to expire in 1985 and was up for renegotiation. The IOW asked for an increase in compensation for both its hourly and salaried workers, more comprehensive health and life insurance plans, and improved working conditions. According to Isokyrian law, the IOW was required to provide justification for their demands which included the rising cost of living, several fatal accidents that left surviving family struggling, and outdated and unsafe equipment being issued. The government acknowledged these reasons but nevertheless refused to agree to their requests, pointing to a decline in production over the last five years. The government argued that this decline in production cost them $1.5 billion in lost revenue and that agreeing to the IOW's proposals would put further financial strain on the government, potentially compelling them to expand privatization. The IOW counter-argued that the decline in production was in fact caused by the aforementioned low wages and poor working conditions. Neither side changed their positions and negotiations soon reached a standstill. Strike Beginning After failing to make any headway, the IOW decided to call a strike. No labor union had ever done so before and its legality was questioned. The law at the time stated "...if such grievances expressed by a worker syndicate go ignored, disregarded, unaddressed, or otherwise unacknowledged by the employer, the worker syndicate in question shall have the right to call a mass refusal to work." The government argued it had acknowledged the IOW's complaints, thus making a strike illegal. It was also unclear if the law implied a general right to strike, or if it strictly applied to worker syndicates only. When the law was written, worker syndicates comprised a more fundamental part of the Isokyrian economy, but by 1985, they had been rendered near-ceremonial relics with little to no relevance in the increasingly liberalized and state-capitalist economy, hence the confusion. The IOW did not expend much effort on discerning the legality of a strike and went ahead as planned on the morning of April 7, 1985. The strike enjoyed high levels of support from the IOW's membership. 13,000 public employees participated in the strike and non-striking IOW members expressed their support and solidarity. Government response The Isokyrian government opted not to attempt to prosecute the striking workers, believing it would pass over within time. When after a week elapsed with no end to the strike, the government grew concerned, and began hiring thousands of strikebreakers to keep basic operations ongoing. These workers were hired at dramatically lower wages and were offered virtually no benefits. The government specifically targeted impoverished, near-homeless, and people otherwise desperate for work knowing they would likely accept the sub-par compensation. Many did not, however, quitting their jobs only days after being hired. At least 500 of these strike breakers ended up joining the strike themselves. Unable to find willing staff to keep operations running, domestic production of crude oil fell by almost half. This caused a large increase in petrol prices across the world. The was especially affected, who at the time, was Isokyria's primary importer of crude oil. A diplomatic crisis between Isokyria and the United States erupted. President condemned both the Isokyrian government and the striking workers and urged Isokyria to find a way to get production back up to pre-strike levels. The mounting pressure from the U.S. among other countries forced the government to begin negotiating with IOW. Negotiations begin About into the fifth week into the strike, the IOW and Isokyrian government resumed negotiations. In the spirit of compromise, the IOW agreed to concede a lower compensation raise than originally demanded and likewise, the government guaranteed to include better health insurance plans as part of the final contract. The remaining dispute revolved around the decline in production and its cause. The government did not want invest extra money into what could possibly be a failing venture. Performance of companies under state-management always lagged behind their private counterparts. The government warned that any contract agreed to could be rendered void if the government sold any of the companies IOW members worked for. Nevertheless, an agreement was reached only after a week of negotations. The final contract included a 25% increase in wages and a 5% in salaries, an insurance plan that covered a wider range of accidents and health issues, and a regime of new safety regulations. Once the contract was finalized, the IOW declared the strike to be over and its members returned to work the following week. Aftermath The government estimated it lost $4 billion in productivity during the six-week strike. Isokyria's relations with the United States and other western nations were strained by the event which has only worsened in a post-Soviet world. The strike, despite being the largest in Isokyrian history, had little affect on Isokyrian politics or society. It was hoped by some in the U.S. and U.K. that the strike would force the Nororist government to pass labor reform but this failed to occur. In fact, in the years after the strike, the government quietly passed laws restricting the right to strike. With the creation of NordCorp in 2005, which operates under a different set of rules than other Isokyrian companies, labor rights activists say the Isokyrian worker has even less rights today than in the 1980s. Category:Isokyria